Xing Lu
Xing Lu -- nicknamed the Jade Blossom among her students -- is an independent Pandaren born from the Jade Forest on the Mainland. She is an incredibly accomplished disciple of Yu'lon, the Jade Serpent, rising to be one of Master Liu Flameheart's favorite students over the span of several decades, starting as a mere child. After Liu's corruption by the Sha that arrived as the result of the Alliance-Horde War and her subsequent death, Xing Lu has taken up the mantle as the Priestess of the Jade Serpent with the primary goal of restoring balance to the Jade Temple. Once Garrosh was taken down by the siege of Orgrimmar, Xing Lu sought the attention of Yu'lon to reinstate a new leader for the Jade Temple. Xing Lu was formally acknowledged, and was thus given the essence of the Jade Serpent, which allowed her to control green dragonflames. She is now in charge of training new students on the ways of the Jade Serpent as well as taming young serpents. Background Childhood Born within the eloquent emerald colored forest in Pandaria under two farmers in love, Xing Lu blossomed. As her continent was shrouded in mist for the last ten thousand years, the girl had no idea or knowledge of the things that happened outside. The child's attention was focused solely on the farming her parents had gardened, although she likes to occasionally watch the Yu'lon Disciples brawl in their training ground. Being encased by her parent's secure arms, Xing Lu wasn't allowed to leave unless permitted otherwise or if they're going with her. This principle, like any other children, was the bane of her life. The prohibition for outdoors activity was persistently broken by the young rebel just to simply go out and pick herbs from the ground, or to witness animals enjoying their time of peace. She've gotten in many troubles alongside her friends, but that didn't stop her from breaking the rules over and over again. Her nickname, Faraa, was based off the noise she would make after hurting herself on accident (which in turn got her more scolded). One day, Xing Lu's parents decided to take her to the training grounds of the servants to the Jade Serpent. They amazed her in spectacular ways, becoming the primary icon for her entire childhood. She mimicked the superbly strong yet gentle moves the disciples would do in their moment of contemplation. That was when she decided that she wanted to become a Jade Priestess. Her dream was right there in front of her, only blockaded by the barrier of protectiveness, her parents. Xing Lu snuck out to mimick their moves once again, contributing to the obliviousness her parents seemed to have when absorbed into their jobs. Training After going through very extensive convincing to her parents, they finally granted her the permission to actually seek out her dream; becoming a disciple of Yu'lon. At first, she had difficulty adjusting to their lifestyle as it was highly different to the one she had from farming. Xing Lu was also the first of her family to ever take the opportunity of becoming an adept of the Jade Temple. Xing Lu and the other disciples learned to control their Chi, manipulate it and exploit it in ways that could only be described as impossible. They also learned to master the Wise Serpent Stance, inspired by the one and only Jade Serpent, Yu'lon. Everyday was a challenge for her especially considering the change in lifestyle. The cheery, childish smile on her face grew to a dedicated, promising, and noble smile one. The girl was growing up to be strong and reliable. Her parents saw it as well. They were proud of her, and for once, did not scold her for the mistakes or stupid things she has done, but rather encouraged her to make up for it by doing the best she could. Initiation to a Yu'lon Disciple After years and years of training as a child, Xing Lu became a notable disciple and along with several other successful adepts, moved up to train under the guidance of Master Liu Flameheart. The young girl has heard many things about her; fact that she studied the cycle of rebirth for Yu'lon. Liu was rough in her teachings, maybe even harsh, but they were very effective in maturing the ones who want to learn and weeding out those that were there for status. Xing Lu was one of the ones to climb up and study under her eyes, while also witnessing the infamous Serpent Dance their master was an expert at. Strong and graceful were the two words Xing Lu could bring herself to describe it, and no matter how many times she wanted to mimick it, she couldn't bring herself to. Xing Lu became a full-on disciple (no pun intended) of the Jade Temple by the time she reached adulthood and has promised herself to become even better, maybe even become a Jade Priestess to reach out to other potentials. Zen, and the Mastery of Chi Xing Lu excelled in the arts of cotrolling her chi, turning it into harmful expulsions or utility for her movements. However, she was never patient enough to reach her zen. Her meditations were often short, cut off by a loud grunt she would make at the fact that she was stupid and not worthy enough to master the arts of zen. Liu instructed her to climb the mountains up and down a thousand and one times, then told her to stay ontop of the peak in total silence and reservation of her own to meditate in peace. Xing Lu didn't believe it would work at first but she tried it, and she was in a state of meditation longer than she has ever been. This eventually lead to her reaching the state of completeness, in body and mind, zen. During this however, her parents planned out an arranged marriage for her and a farmer's boy. Xing Lu immediately fell in love with the boy upon meeting him and didn't challenge their authority as to being his fiancee. Why would she? He was strong, handsome, tough and manly enough to also have light femininity within him. The Mist, Unveiled It was only a matter of time until the war between Horde and Alliance would lead to the rediscovery of Pandaria. Xing Lu, who was already an experienced disciple of Yu'lon for decades, at first, was surprised yet intrigued at the arrival of these new creatures that she has never witnessed before. Most of them were covered in just skin aside from a select few. Naturally, their Horde-Alliance war affected the Jade Temple; Liu even announcing that things were going to be changing within just a few months. This brought out some fear from the disciples. Some even decided on leaving to help out their own families. Xing Lu stayed in order to maintain the stability within the temple. Outsiders crept in and out, both from Horde and Alliance. This got Xing Lu to ponder why they were in war. Many of them were polite. Many of them were also rude. They were similar in many ways, yet so different as well and that convinced Xing Lu to believe that the factions were the Yin and Yang to each other. They simply couldn't exist without one another. Eventually, doubt took over the area where it once was defeated by Emperor Shaohao. And unfortunately, Liu Flameheart was the first one to be possessed by a Sha of Doubt within the temple. The very person that Xing Lu idolized was suffering because the war made her doubt that she didn't have the strength to ensure the rebirth of the Jade Serpent. During the entirety of the disciples cleansing the Sha outside on the training grounds, Xing Lu was also participating. Finding out that Liu was possessed convinced her to actually take action and redeem her master's spirit. She aided a group of heroes and champions into reclaiming the temple, and end the suffering of those who were doubting themselves. When Liu fell, Xing Lu felt that she had to take up part of the mantle alongside other disciples to continue preserving the ways of the Wise Serpent. The Pandaren continued to get stronger, spiritually and physically, by training those who wanted to support the Jade Temple. She was finally allowed to call herself a Jade Priestess. Decisions Xing Lu, while not part of the two factions, seem to have taken a liking to the Alliance. The dwarves had a liking for ales, and she wouldn't be a Pandaren if she were to be declining an offer of ale. Granted, she has made many Horde acquiantances as well, but she is more willing to mingle amongst the Alliance capitols instead. Frequently though, she is at the Jade Temple, in a state of meditation. Siege of Orgrimmar The pandaren was one of the participants to siege the city of Orgrimmar in order to end the reign of Warchief Hellscream. Xing Lu judged that he was one of the primary cause of this war, and why the Sha broke out once more in Pandaria. After his defeat, Xing Lu returned to her home to restore the ways once more. Trivia *Xing Lu's favorite color is green, as per the Jade Serpent's color. *Xing Lu's name is based from the creator's past Chinese teacher in Junior High. Category:Pandaren Category:Characters Category:Independent Category:Monks